PLAINVIEW – For the second time in three years, the Plainview Bulldogs football team will miss the playoffs.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the team won’t still give its best effort in the final game of the season against Abilene Wylie in the battle of the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Friday in Abilene.

“I think anytime you have a chance to win a football game, you ought to do everything you can to. I think it would certainly be nice to head into the offseason on a win,” Plainview head coach Ryan Rhoades said. “They have a lot of good character to them, so I’d be really shocked if they didn’t play this last game like it was as important as any game the entire year. That’s our team’s attitude, so I think we’ll get the best effort we can on Friday against Abilene Wylie.”

The Bulldogs struggled with injuries most of the year and go into the season finale down three starters in juniors quarterback Peyton Straley, tailback/cornerback Peyton McNutt and defensive back Michael Rhoades.

Junior Jarren Isaguirre started during the season when Straley was out and will get the start Friday. Isaguirre records 269 yards and one touchdown with three interceptions on 25-for-67 throwing on the season.

“Jarren’s an exciting young man to watch. He’s got a lot of quickness about him,” Rhoades said. “Even when he wasn’t starting, he was still getting series and reps because it’s that close a competition every week in and every week out.”

Malik Owens will get the start at corner, though the junior has seen his fair share of playing time and contributed to the team’s defensive effort, making 17 tackles on the year.

“We’ve always had the philosophy of the next man up anytime we have an injury situation. Our kids always do a really good job of bringing their best effort when it’s their opportunity,” Rhoades said.

Rhoades has also liked what he saw from the adjustments made to the offensive line, including sophomore Landry Thornton’s performance against Wichita Falls Old High. As a result, Thornton will get his first varsity start on Friday.

“That’s not a ‘hey we’re looking on down the road’ thing at all. He earned that spot and he’ll get to keep it as long as he keeps practicing,” Rhoades said. “Unfortunately, it’s the last game, but I do feel like the O-line has improved in the last 3-4 weeks, and I think that was evident on Friday night when we scored 28 points.”

Despite the 49-28 loss to the Coyotes, Plainview managed 306 yards of total offense, which included a 61-yard touchdown by senior tailback Andrew Villa.

The other Bulldogs of Abilene Wylie have had their struggles as well, going winless and missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993. The closest Wylie came to a win was a narrow 24-20 loss to Canyon Randall on Oct. 26. The team enters the game after a 31-12 defeat at the hands of Class 5A, No. 7-ranked Lubbock-Cooper.

Despite the team’s struggles, Rhoades was complimentary of longtime Wylie head coach Hugh Sandifer and his strategies offensively and defensively.

“They will be in nearly every defensive front you can see. In fact, they have one defensive front where they line up all about 3-6 yards away from the ball and try to anticipate the snap, which looks like about eight people running at you at once from about 3-4 yards,” Rhoades said. “I think we were up to about 92 different sets when we were breaking down film early on Saturday morning, so there’s going to be lots of different formations that you will see both from an offensive standpoint and defensive standpoint.

“It’ll be their Senior Night and their last game of the year as well … so I’m sure both squads will want to go into the offseason with a win.”